Spin Cycle

Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) just completed a jaunt through Syracuse, Utica and other spots in Central New York and told us of his chances for appointment by Gov. David Paterson to the U.S. Senate:

“I believe two things: One, that there has not been a coronation, and he’s not made a decision, so it’s an open field. Two, he doesn’t wake up every morning like rest of us do thinking about this. He wakes up every morning thinking about how to address a $16 billion deficit and who he will be negotiating with in the New York State Senate. Those are two crises he’s working on this week. The Senate problem is two to three weeks away.”

He met with the mayors of Syracuse, Hornell (Mayor Shawn Hogan is above, left) and Utica, state lawmakers, and other elected and party officials from the region including two Congressional colleagues. He said three issues dominated the conversations: making sure a share of the federal economic stimulus package reaches upstate, coordinating green-energy development efforts ranging from the Brookhaven National Lab to the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Marcy Nanotech Center, and the U.S. Senate seat.

"I'm continuing ...